Design of Magnetic Textures of Ad-Nanocorrals with an Extra Adatom

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how attaching a single extra adatom to antiferromagnetic nanocorrals can create complex, tunable magnetic textures through atom-by-atom engineering, influenced by geometry, adatom position, and substrate coupling.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate and control complex magnetic textures in adatom corrals by adding a single adatom, expanding possibilities for nanoscale magnetic engineering.

Findings

Attachment of an extra adatom alters the magnetic topology.

Magnetic states can be tuned by adjusting adatom position and coupling.

Complex non-trivial magnetic textures are achievable atom by atom.

Abstract

It is shown that in antiferromagnetic open or closed corrals of magnetic adatoms grown on surfaces, the attachment of a single extra adatom anywhere in the corral impacts on the geometrical topology of the nanosystem and generates complex magnetic structures when a magnetic field is applied or a magnetic coupling to a ferromagnetic substrate exists. The spin configuration of the corral can be tuned to a non-planar state or a planar non-collinear or ferrimagnetic state by adjusting its number of sites, the location of the extra adatom or the strength of the coupling to the ferromagnetic substrate. This shows the possibility to generate non-trivial magnetic textures with atom by atom engineering anywhere in the corral and not only at the edges.